3William Green, CEO of the $20+ billion (revenues) mega-consulting firm Accenture tells of the time he attended a 3-day training session for new managers (The New York Times, November 22, 2009). By the end of the third day he had counted 68 things that the fledgling managers were told to do in order to be successful.

At the close of the training session Green rose to deliver his two cents worth. Displaying the grasp of the essentials that no doubt helped him rise to the top, Green said that in the final analysis, only three things really mattered:

1) Competence: You have to be good at your job.

2) Confidence: You must be able to articulate and lead.

3) Caring: In the end, it is about giving a damn about your customers, your company, the people around you.

Competence, confidence, caring. Do these three things and do them well, and ‘most everything else will take care of itself.